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Saturday, January 2, 2010

An additional thought

I was reading over the post I had put up yesterday, and I thought I would add one comment. I was talking to a co-worker about how to change (bad) habits or going about making a change for the better. Through talking to her I realized that, after analyzing what made past goals successful, it is a matter of focusing you on the task at hand in order to reach the objective.

This may sound like a 'duh' statement, and in a way it is. Yet, when most people tend to create their goals for the new year coming, they clearly define the end result and leave out the rest of the process. As with all projects, we have to access what will make that goal a reality. Without a plan of attack, that goal becomes something intangible and too grandiose.

Instead, I like to focus on one 'task' as opposed to a goal. If reducing my impact on the environment is a overall goal, then I put my attention to a small contributor... a small step. One of the things I have done is to reduce the amount of bottle water I drink. It is said that it takes 2,000 times the energy to produce one bottle of water, then it would have been for the equivalent amount of tap water. So, until that task becomes routine where I don't have to focus on it, I am striving to always carry around water brought from my tap at home (which is best because it's filtered), or filling up a reusable bottle at a nearby drinking fountain.

As a side note: to those who see my small step and say that tap water is disgusting and not an option for you, I say the following. First, at home you can have a filter installed (either at the tap of one of those in the fridge types) to create a better quality water. Second, if being out you refuse to drink from fountains because of the terrible taste, find out why there is such a poor quality of water. We often take so little time to draw attention to things that are lacking because we think it takes too much work. My rebuttal is that you can just call and complain. Then, get your friends to call and complain and have them spread the word. One person at a time really can work... it's not just a cliche. Lastly, for those of you wanting to save money in these tough times, cutting out that $1 bottled water can easily add up quickly... so, do want to use just a small amount of effort to save a lot of money, or do you want to keep burning a hole in your pocket?

So, to wrap up, when you make your resolution, do so and then follow up by breaking the goal down into a small step. Let that small step be your focus only... put off thinking about the big picture. Once that small step is taken...go on to the next one. You will find that within a short period you have exceeded what your original goal was (provided it is a goal you can exceed).